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TRENT is on Twitter. Merrin is the latest victim of Penrith’s injury curse, having suffered a freak finger injury during the team’s NRL loss to North Queensland.
WARNING: There is a graphic image of a broken finger below.
Merrin was forced to withdraw from the match in Bathurst before being transported to Penrith Hospital overnight after attempting to have surgery in Orange.
On Friday night, it is believed that there were no skilled surgeons available in the central west region
“I think he’s going to have some surgery tonight. They’re not sure if it’s a dislocation or fracture of his finger so they have to get it cleaned up tonight,” Panthers coach Anthony Griffin said.
Merrin’s injury could sideline him for up to eight weeks, joining a crowded casualty ward already housing Nathan Cleary, Waqa Blake, Dylan Edwards, Josh Mansour and Sam McKendry.
Prop Tim Browne was this week forced to retire but Griffin refuses to use their mounting injury toll as an excuse for their third defeat of the season. The Panthers fought back from 20 points down against the Cowboys but eventually fell 26-20.
“It’s obviously not ideal. Every week we’ve got new parts to our edge or both edges. New winger tonight, new centres, so the combinations obviously is not ideal but that’s just this competition,” Griffin said.
“You’ve got to go through periods where you’re not going to have your best team on the field and if we’d been better and more solid for a full 80 minutes, we could win that football game.
“I don’t want to sit here and make excuses about injuries. We had a side out there tonight that tried their backsides off undoubtedly but we just handed them their points too easily.”
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